Using Self-Assessment to Build Self-Efficacy and Intrinsic Motivation in Athletes: A Mixed Methods Explanatory Design on Female Adolescent Volleyball Players

The aim of this mixed-methods study was to address the issue of burnout and lack of motivation in middle and high school student-athletes. As young athletes cope with school and stresses of extracurricular activities, they often react negatively to external feedback and motivation. The athletes often find themselves in a low state of self-efficacy due to perceived external pressures. This can lead to burnout and ultimately quitting the sport. This study utilized a model that was designed to use self-assessment to increase self-efficacy among athletes to promote a higher sense of accomplishment and motivation toward success. The athletes were all female volleyball players ranging from ages 10-18. Each athlete received a pretest to ascertain her level of motivation prior to the beginning of the athletic season. During their athletic seasons, 30 of the athletes participated in a weekly self-assessment program producing measurable quantitative data to be used as predictors. A sample selection of the athletes was also interviewed to allow for reflection on the study and produce qualitative data intended to predict possible outcomes of the study. Upon completion of the season the athletes took a post-test to measure their levels of motivation. The outcome of the study produced a statistical effect that demonstrated an increase in self-efficacy and self-determination in athletes, and subsequently increased motivation. The qualitative interview data corroborated the effect produced by the quantitative data

Beekeeping In Western Australia

This Bulletin provides background information for those wishing to learn to keep bees or learn about beekeeping in Western Australia.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1259/thumbnail.jp

EFFECTS OF IMPOSED SOLIDS FLUX AND PRESSURE ON GAS BYPASSING IN DEEP FLUIDIZED BEDS OF GROUP A MATERIALS

Tests were conducted in 0.6-m and 0.9-m-diameter units to determine the effect of imposed solids flux and system pressure on gas bypassing in deep beds of FCC catalyst particles. Imposed solids fluxes of up to 70 kg/m2s and freeboard pressures of up to about 200 kPag were used. Imposing a solids flux on the fluid bed increased the potential for gas bypassing, while increasing the system pressure had the opposite effect

Service user interview panels for recruitment to UK child and adolescent mental health services: A questionnaire study exploring the experiences of young people, staff and candidates

Service user involvement is increasingly important in health and social care policy, including in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), but evidence evaluating involvement initiatives is lacking. This questionnaire study evaluated the use of young people’s (YP) interview panels in the recruitment of CAMHS staff, from the perspectives of YP, candidates and members of the staff interview panels. Self-report questionnaires were administered to YP, candidates and staff interview panel. This included quantitative and qualitative “free text” responses. YP’s panels were found to be important in hearing the voices of YP; participants all stated they would like YP to take part in future interviews. Qualitative analysis found YP provided added insight into the process, had a professional manner, were valued and important, gave clear feedback, and benefitted the YP involved. A number of changes to the process were identified. This evaluation found YP’s interview panels were feasible, and a valuable addition to the recruitment process, and should be considered in other CAMHS teams. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Patient, Family & Community Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Effect of Gas Bypassing in Deep Beds on Cyclone Dipleg Operation

Cyclone diplegs play a major role in the functioning of fluidized beds. Previous studies have shown that at certain operating conditions there can be severe gas bypassing (also referred to as jet streaming) of gas in deep beds of Geldart Group A materials which leaves significant portions of the fluid bed defluidized. If cyclone diplegs are immersed in these defluidized regions, solids discharge from the dipleg may be hindered, which can lead to the flooding of the dipleg and the cyclone. This could result in high solids losses from the fluidized bed. Tests were conducted to demonstrate that cyclone diplegs can flood when discharging into a bed with gas bypassing. Tests were also conducted to determine how gas bypassing affects the operation of cyclone diplegs that have a splash plate or a trickle valve. These tests were conducted in a 1.52-m-diameter semicircular column equipped with a Plexiglas faceplate to allow visual observation

Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Manipulations in Weighted Voting Games

Weighted voting games are classic cooperative games which provide compact representation for coalition formation models in human societies and multiagent systems. As useful as weighted voting games are in modeling cooperation among players, they are, however, not immune from the vulnerability of manipulations (i.e., dishonest behaviors) by strategic players that may be present in the games. With the possibility of manipulations, it becomes difficult to establish or maintain trust, and, more importantly, it becomes difficult to assure fairness in such games. For these reasons, we conduct careful experimental investigations and analyses of the effects of manipulations in weighted voting games, including those of manipulation by splitting, merging, and annexation . These manipulations involve an agent or some agents misrepresenting their identities in anticipation of gaining more power or obtaining a higher portion of a coalition\u27s profits at the expense of other agents in a game. We consider investigation of some criteria for the evaluation of game\u27s robustness to manipulation. These criteria have been defined on the basis of theoretical and experimental analysis. For manipulation by splitting, we provide empirical evidence to show that the three prominent indices for measuring agents\u27 power, Shapley-Shubik, Banzhaf, and Deegan-Packel, are all susceptible to manipulation when an agent splits into several false identities. We extend a previous result on manipulation by splitting in exact unanimity weighted voting games to the Deegan-Packel index, and present new results for excess unanimity weighted voting games. We partially resolve an important open problem concerning the bounds on the extent of power that a manipulator may gain when it splits into several false identities in non-unanimity weighted voting games. Specifically, we provide the first three non-trivial bounds for this problem using the Shapley-Shubik and Banzhaf indices. One of the bounds is also shown to be asymptotically tight. Furthermore, experiments on non-unanimity weighted voting games show that the three indices are highly susceptible to manipulation via annexation while they are less susceptible to manipulation via merging. Given that the problems of calculating the Shapley-Shubik and Banzhaf indices for weighted voting games are NP-complete, we show that, when the manipulators\u27 coalitions sizes are restricted to a small constant, manipulators need to do only a polynomial amount of work to find a much improved power gain for both merging and annexation, and then present two enumeration-based pseudo-polynomial algorithms that manipulators can use. Finally, we argue and provide empirical evidence to show that despite finding the optimal beneficial merge is an NP-hard problem for both the Shapley-Shubik and Banzhaf indices, finding beneficial merge is relatively easy in practice. Also, while it appears that we may be powerless to stop manipulation by merging for a given game, we suggest a measure, termed quota ratio, that the game designer may be able to control. Thus, we deduce that a high quota ratio decreases the number of beneficial merges

Post-Brexit Implications on Irish Freight Transport and Logistics Sector

The study quantifies the impact that new custom checks and Agri/SPS inspection procedures could have on agri-food supply chains. It is possible that these checks will be introduced at both EU27 and UK ports. The analysis shows the potential risks to the Irish agri-food supply chain. These risks are explained through a range of non-tariff barriers and Ireland/EU transport connectivity scenarios. There is potential for disruption in the long-established transportation routes between Ireland, the UK and Continental European markets. Direct shipping routes (i.e. links directly between Ireland and the EU26) have therefore been considered in this case. This consideration comes from the perspective of both practitioners in the field and experts from social, environmental, and economic disciplines. The study demonstrates how Irish agri-food supply chains are uniquely exposed to Brexit. Ireland has had strong ties with the UK market and has been a supplier for many decades. In 2018, agri-food exports from Ireland to the UK reached €5.6 billion, while imports from the UK yielded €4.5 billion. Overall, this provided Ireland with a trade surplus of more than €1 billion.1 In addition, about 38% of Irish unitised exports to Continental Europe transits via the UK land- bridge.2 Brexit poses an unprecedented risk to the competitive advantage that Irish agri-food products have cultivated in UK markets. This study reveals that the delivery time for all products will increase, in each scenario, which will diminish product shelf-life. This risk, of course, will affect both the value and quality of certain products, which in turn affects their competitiveness

Preference for synthetic pesticides for fruit fly pest management over biological control interventions:fighting a losing battle?

Synthetic chemical pesticides are a common strategy for pest control. However, their use is often associated with environmental pollution, food safety concerns, global warming biodiversity loss. Biological control options including the use of natural enemies, semiochemicals, food attractants such as baits and repellents to control pest are a recommended option to substitute chemical pesticides. The biologicals could promote production of high value organic produce that is safe for consumption. It is therefore important to investigate the prevalence of biological and chemical pest management options, and the factors involved among resource constrained smallholder farmers

Multidisciplinary approach to promote research to commercialization, and small business development in Africa:KTP project in Kenya, a case study

A great proportion of research, including by postgraduate scholars is usually disseminated by different mediums including manuscripts, conference papers, short communications, scientific reports and thesis. However, only a small proportion of the innovations acquire intellectual property rights or reach the commercialization stage. On the other, many startups and small business are restricted in their research capacity and thereby take long to access new research findings or equipment. Therefore, more intentional and collaborative approach is required to accelerate innovation, development and industrialization in Africa

Quantitative Reasoning in Environmental Science: Rasch Measurement to Support QR Assessment

Original work is hosted at USF Libraries Scholar Commons publisher of Numeracy, the electronic journal of the National Numeracy Network (NNN). Abstract : The ability of middle and high school students to reason quantitatively within the context of environmental science was investigated. A quantitative reasoning (QR) learning progression, with associated QR assessments in the content areas of biodiversity, water, and carbon, was developed based on three QR progress variables: quantification act, quantitative interpretation, and quantitative modeling. Diagnostic instruments were developed specifically for the progress variable quantitative interpretation (QI), each consisting of 96 Likert-scale items. Each content version of the instrument focused on three scale levels (macro scale, micro scale, and landscape scale) and four elements of QI identified in prior research (trend, translation, prediction, and revision). The QI assessments were completed by 362, 6th to 12th grade students in three U.S. states. Rasch (1960/1980) measurement was used to determine item and person measures for the QI instruments, both to examine validity and reliability characteristics of the instrument administration and inform the evolution of the learning progression. Rasch methods allowed identification of several QI instrument revisions, including modification of specific items, reducing number of items to avoid cognitive fatigue, reconsidering proposed item difficulty levels, and reducing Likert scale to 4 levels. Rasch diagnostics also indicated favorable levels of instrument reliability and appropriate targeting of item abilities to student abilities for the majority of participants. A revised QI instrument is available for STEM researchers and educators